At the risk of sounding old...

[samus]

Some profound thoughts on the anime industry occurred to me today at work. They were a result of reading your messages on the boards, a cosplay costume at Anime USA, and someone's comment about it. I have taken a little time to compose my thoughts and make an entry on my LiveJournal.

http://www.livejournal.com/users/rb13/

I was wondering if any of you have felt this way, or if any of you are the newbie anime fans which I speak of in my entry. I'm starting to think it is indeed true: I'm one of the oldie anime fans, belonging to that group of veterans I have so often encountered at anime conventions. The ones who talk about the olden days, before Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, before Pokemon, even.

[hr]samus
--
[s]"If people who do not understand each other understand that they do not understand each other, then they understand each other better than, not understanding each other, they do not understand that they do understand each other."
- Gustav Ichheiser[/s]

[Thalia]

Hehe, i'm only 17 so probably technically i should be fitting in with the younger anime generation - but i got into anime years ago basicaly because i used to use the internet for help in finding poses that i wanted in my drawings and all these anime style characters started popping up in my searches and i wondered - what's that all about?

But as a kid with no money i waited eagerly for all those crappy dubs on tv - which probably means i fit into that second generation of anime fans ^_- - i watched escaflowne religiously when it was first shown even though i already had read the story without all the worthless editing online. I tuned into the sci-fi channel every single time they showed an anime - even if it was really late at night (btw, has anyone seen an anime called detonator orgun? cos that was pretty cool but i got the feeling at the end that i hadn't quite understood it all somehow... ^^;;)
(man, i even watched every season of digimon...although i drew the line at the 3rd series of pokemon ^^;;)

i still get surprised when i go into glasgow and see all the anime dvds and manga in forbidden planet - i'm sometimes very tempted to say that in my day you couldn't just walk into a shop and pick up whatever anime you wanted ^^;; and i hate it when my people go on about how they've seen beyblade, yugioh, pokemon, sailor moon etc. and thus know enough to think that the rest of it's crap...

But then i'm just in it for the artwork most of the time - i'm a wannabe manga artist ^^;; - so i don't buy much anime unless the story's very me-like (yes...i'm a wanna be writer as well ^_-)

hmm...where was this ramble headed when i started? i dunno...somewhere along the lines of 'i agree with you, samus' i think ^^;;

EDIT: ...must go to sleep and stop waffling on for no reason and sounding like an idiot...

[Dee]

Not really, but I've not been into anime for very long so it's hardly surprising. If I had I'd probably come down on the "ye olde fans" side - I'm 21 which is not in my coffin but it's old enough.

I was vaguely aware of anime's existence for many years, but was put off by what I saw (Vampire Hunter D, Violence Jack, Akira) and what I heard ("Where did all these naughty tentacles come from" type stories). I guess anime's become more available over the years, but I've only recently started buying dvds.

I don't think I ever believed Pokemon, Beyblade, etc was the extent of anime as I hadn't even heard of half of these before they got mentioned on this board.

[General Porkov]

Hmm, where would I fit in on this line?
Maybe as an almost-veteran. Age-wise, I'm 6 months away from 29 and the first time I saw anime was when I was young and the BBC showed Battle of the Planets in its Children's BBC time-slot (I didn't equate it as anime at the time but then my age was probably only single figures or just entering double figures)
I didn't properly get into anime until 1991, when I was 16. The first anime I properly got into was Akira, through the manga. This was due to a short-lived Marvel comic called Meltdown that had short snips of a whole set of different comics (Nightbreed, Akira, The Last American, etc). Then, at the end of 1991, Island released Akira on VHS and that's how my anime collection started.
Now, after about 12 years, I have about 150 tapes and 15-20 DVDs of stuff that's been released in the UK by Manga, ADV, etc. I also have a collection of manga. Thus, I am not one of the most hardest-core anime fans, as I haven't been to a convention. They're mostly in central/ south England and I've lacked the time to get there.
In January, I will find some differences the next time I look at anime or manga when I spend a few months in the country of its origin - Japan. (It's nice that Japan has the same region code as the UK, although I think you get less episodes on DVD for your money in Japan but you can watch stuff years before it comes out in the UK)

Doom Lord General Porko Porkov
Doom Brigade

[samus]

[s]General Porkov wrote on 21:32, 4th Dec 2003:
Now, after about 12 years, I have about 150 tapes and 15-20 DVDs of stuff that's been released in the UK by Manga, ADV, etc. I also have a collection of manga. Thus, I am not one of the most hardest-core anime fans, as I haven't been to a convention. They're


You're more hardcore than I, by virtue of your very large collection! Con attendance does not an otaku make. ^_^;

The UK anime con scene is pretty close-knit from what I have observed. I felt distinctly on the outside - everyone seemed to know everyone else.

I hope you'll share your Japan experiences with us on the message boards, Porkov. I for one am interested in getting an idea of Japan from the anime-lover's perspective. Do try and visit the Studip Ghibli Museum! And tell us about it, if you do get a chance to go!

[hr]
samus
--
[s]"If people who do not understand each other understand that they do not understand each other, then they understand each other better than, not understanding each other, they do not understand that they do understand each other."
- Gustav Ichheiser[/s]